Former Fifth Third Bank Executive Takes Over Remitly’s Legal Team to Support Continued Global Expansion; Bill.com CXO Adds International Product Development Expertise to Board
Remitly, the mobile-first provider of remittances and financial services for immigrants, today announced that Saema Somalya has joined the company as General Counsel, leading the Company’s legal, privacy, compliance, enterprise risk and risk product departments. She succeeds Aaron Gregory, who has led Remitly’s legal team since 2015. In addition to Somalya’s appointment, Remitly also expanded its board strength with the addition of Bora Chung, Chief Experience Officer at Bill.com, a provider of cloud-based software that simplifies, digitizes and automates complex back-office financial operations for small and midsize businesses.
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“It is an honor to welcome both Saema and Bora to Remitly. There’s no more urgent time than now for us to double down on our mission to provide the most transformative financial services products for immigrants, and Saema and Bora’s expertise will be extremely valuable as we seek to do so,” said Remitly CEO Matt Oppenheimer. “We also deeply value the diverse and lived immigrant perspectives they each bring to our leadership.”
Somalya has extensive experience leading complex global transactions and advising corporations on governance, ESG and securities legal matters. She has led and executed over $50 billion in capital markets offerings and acquisitions. She most recently served as Senior Vice President, Deputy General Counsel (Corporate) at Fifth Third Bank, where she advised the senior leadership team and the Board of Directors on corporate transactions and capital raising activities, shareholder engagement, ESG, executive compensation and securities law matters. She previously served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Warren Resources, Inc., and held various legal roles at PepsiCo, Inc. and the law firms of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP and Davis Polk LLP. She received her bachelor’s degree from Yale University and her law degree from Yale Law School.
“The work Remitly has done to shift the financial services industry towards more accessible and inclusive practices for immigrants is remarkable,” said Somalya. “As a first generation American of Pakistani heritage, I am deeply aware of the transformative power of this kind of access and inclusion and I’m humbled to join this hugely talented team. I look forward to investing in this important mission and helping Remitly continue to flourish in the years to come.”
Chung, an experienced fintech product executive and current Chief Experience Officer at Bill.com, brings a strong innovation and design background from her work in international product development at companies like eBay, Apple and PayPal. In 2015, Fast Company included Chung in its list of The Most Creative People in Business. She holds an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. in economics from Harvard University. As a member of the board, Chung’s expertise in product strategy, user experience innovation, roadmap execution and more, will support Remitly’s continued global expansion.
“For many years, I’ve enjoyed watching Remitly grow from afar, impressed by how it scaled yet stayed true to what it set out to do – provide the best financial services for immigrants. I’m excited to finally align my background with this company,” said Chung.
